Low trip fares, high operating costs, and growing security issues are squeezing Abuja e-hailing drivers’ earnings, leaving many operators working longer hours for little or no profit.
Speaking during a webinar on drivers’ welfare, participants highlighted issues ranging from low fare pricing and high commissions to account suspensions without hearings and inadequate welfare systems, arguing that disunity among drivers continues to weaken efforts to secure a better working environment.
“The reality is that most drivers are facing issues like rising fuel prices, high vehicle maintenance and spare part costs,” Samuel Olisa, a representative of app-based drivers’ associations, said.
Olisa noted that long pickup distances are often unpaid, while vehicle maintenance expenses continue to rise.
He also faulted ride-hailing companies for increasing commissions and setting fares without considering drivers’ operating realities, arguing that although drivers are labelled partners, they are rarely consulted before major policy decisions or account suspensions are made.
“Indiscriminate deactivation of drivers’ accounts is a problem that is peculiar to app companies. This is a partnership. I bring my vehicle, and you use your tech to board riders for me to drop off. We have had cases where you pick someone and they bedwet right there in your vehicle.
“I understand we are professionals and should know how to manage temperaments and individuals. But there’s a limit. If I am trying to manage you because you are my client, and I see that you are becoming a direct threat, not just to my safety, but the safety of my vehicle and by extension, the safety of other road users, it is best for me to pull over and ask you to leave my vehicle,” Olisa said.
He noted that when that happens, and the driver is reported, e-hailing apps then block the driver.
Union leaders acknowledged internal disputes and weak mobilisation on the drivers’ part, but insisted efforts were ongoing, including letters to e-hailing companies and proposed roundtable discussions.
However, they admitted that the lack of unity remains the biggest obstacle, allowing app companies to dictate terms without driver input, stating that only sustained mobilisation, aggressive awareness campaigns, realistic union dues, driver-focused programmes, and regulatory intervention can restore dignity, safety, and economic viability to Nigeria’s e-hailing sector.
“Drivers must remain united; division weakens our voice. We must engage with regulation, policymakers, and app companies constructively. We must continue to use platforms like this to educate, mobilise, and amplify our concerns, peacefully and lawfully.
“To the app companies, when drivers are treated fairly, service quality improves. Welfare is not a threat to business. It is a foundation for sustainability. To government and regulators, protecting drivers’ welfare is protecting public transportation and employment,” Evans Agada, vice chairman of FCT e-hailing drivers, said.
